Rumour of imminent ban on buying alcohol in shops in Wales ‘simply not true’

Rumours of an ‘alcohol ban’ from shops in Wales is “simply not true,” according to the Welsh Government.

Posts claiming that a complete alcohol ban would be enforced in supermarkets throughout Wales from December 17th were circulated on Facebook and other social media sites.

“We’re aware of rumours about plans for an “alcohol ban” from shops in Wales,” the government said. “This is simply not true.”

Labour MS, and Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport, Lee Waters, also said rumours of the ban were false.

Mr Waters said: “I’m picking up rumours that all alcohol sales in supermarkets will be banned from December 17^th. I can assure you this is not true.”

It comes two days after the Welsh Government had to stamp our “completely false” rumours of a 9pm curfew in Wales.

The Welsh Government announced last week that alcohol in pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes would be banned from 6pm on Friday.

However, buying alcohol from shops and supermarkets in the run up to Christmas remains legal.

The Welsh Government have said that they will look again at the current rules for hospitality on the 17th of December, but look unlikely to life the ban on alcohol sales.

‘Personal responsibility’ 

Earlier today at a press conference Wales’ Chief Medical Officer Dr Frank Atheron said that it is too late to change the Covid-19 rules over Christmas without confusing people but further restrictions beyond that are possible.

He added that people should take “personal responsibility” in their “personal decisions” over the holidays as cases rise quickly in Wales.

That means that rules about the relaxation of restrictions for five day over the Christmas period will remain in place.

He said: “We’ve made a commitment to the people of Wales, the people of the UK, that those rules will change over the Christmas the five-day period.

“So, no, we’re not going to change those rules. That would just confuse everybody, for sure.

“The rules are as we agreed across the four nations, but we will really have to look very carefully, as we come out of that period over Christmas, [about] what the rates are, what the hospital activity is looking like, and how resilient we are as a nation, and we will have to decide about whether we need further restrictions beyond the Christmas period.”

Dr. Atherton did, however, say that people should take extra precautions and avoid mixing before Christmas, and could reduce contact over the festival itself to a single day.

“Although there are five days of relaxation of the rules over Christmas, it doesn’t have to be five days,” he said.

“It may be bringing your elderly relatives around just for a couple of hours over Christmas.

“Obviously that’s safer than an extended period of time.

“So there are ways that people can think to manage the risk and reduce the risk even if, as many people want to, they feel the need to spend time with loved ones over Christmas.”